exploring people and places one plate at a time

August 21, 2006

Unearthly Summer Fun - PB Ice Cream

Cravings hit at the strangest time. My fellow gophers in cubicle life have come to expect my outbursts to be around food. Wednesday's out burst was "Peanut butter ice cream with bits of Reese's cups--doesn't that sound good." KK, quipped back, "Hey you over there! Don't get us started." But it had struck so I needed to address the urge.

Having recently moved into a small in-law cottage and spontaneously deciding to make something in my IBK is an ongoing experiment. First I had to recall where the Krups Glacerie had been placed in the overstuffed storage shed, dig around and drag it out, only to learn that the container needed 24 hours to pre-freeze. OK so this would be a 2-day impulse effort. It's a fine line between craving and obsession and I had just crossed it.

Most of the history of ice cream is checkered with claims by the French and the Italians. But what is known is that the first recorded bowl of ice cream was in China in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907). It was made with a combination of horse, water buffalo, cow and goat milks that were heated and allowed to ferment then mixed with flour and camphor. Also in the Middle East there was a drink called, charbet, made with water and fruit. In Japan a type of ice slush was made in the 11th century.

Needless to say there are many languages of ice cream. Sorbet and sherbet differ in that the latter contains milk and the former does not and relies heavily on the quality and natural sugars of the fruit. Ice milks contain no cream. Hmmm, skip that shall we? And then we arrive at Philadelphia style ice-cream which is yielded from uncooked cream and sugar. But for me, during summer there is no substitute for the true blue variety--rich, full fat. So in selecting the ingredients it was going to be necessary to include heavy cream, full fat milk and high-quality eggs. The recipe that I was envisioning had to have that rich full mouth taste with a smooth as silk taste. My recipe would be a French style ice cream with a cooked custard base. Interestingly in a piece over at Slate ice cream can't legally be labeled "ice cream" in France until it containseight egg yolks per quart.

Homemade ice cream requires you to pay attention and to exhibit some patience. If carefully followed the results will be rewardingly indulgent and heavenly ice cream. This particularly recipe is no exception. And now that my craving has been satitatied who wants some ice cream?

Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream

8 ½ cups servings or 4 generous servings

1/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 cup whole milk

¾ cup creamy peanut butter (not natural)

cup sweetened condensed milk

½ cup heavy cream

2 ½ tsps vanilla extract

12 minature peanut putter cups, quartered

DIRECTIONS

In a medium bowl, beat sugar and eggs with an electric mixer until thick, about 3 minutes. Set aside.

Pour milk into a small saucepan.Allow to simmer over low heat.Be very careful as you do not want it to boil. Temper the hot milk into the eggs by slowly drizzling the milk into the eggs while whisking quickly.

Pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Again do not allow to boil.

Remove from heat, and whisk in peanut butter. Allow to cool slightly, then whisk in the sweetened condensed milk, half-and-half and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate until chilled through.

Pour the combined mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

After the ice cream has been churning for 15 minutes add the peanut butter cups.Transfer ice cream to a container, and freeze until solid, about two hours.